To truly grasp what the surfer dudes in Pavones are like, you gotta imagine this scenario: It’s the second day of the big swell. The waves now measure up to three meters and more. Surfers from all over the world have traveled to Pavones. There’s about 100 people sitting in the line-up who all want the same thing: Catch a ride on the legendary left that can take you along for more than one kilometer! All of a sudden, a thunderstorm rolls in. A big one; black clouds, lightning and thunder:

The next one actually hit the hostel

You’d think that’s the moment to get out of the water and seek shelter. Well, most people do so. But not all of them…Some of the really crazy dudes stay right there, others even go in the water now, just to have a bigger chance to catch one of the waves. When they come back later (surprisingly, they do!), they tell us how everyone lay down flat on their boards whenever a lightning hit close-by, so as not to get hit. Yeah…! So yes, it’s these guys we spend the next couple of days with in Pavones, and it’s pretty awesome.

Getting to Pavones proves to be a difficult journey. We take a bus from Puerto Viejo to the capital, where we spend the night. Early in the morning of the next day, we continue from San José to Golfito. There, we get lost thanks to a bus driver who’s on his first trip to the city and manage to catch the last bus to Pavones with lots of luck, help from some very friendly locals and only thanks to the fact that I speak Spanish. Two and a half hours on bumpy roads and through the rain – and finally we’re in Pavones.

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But the long journey is totally worth it. Pavones has everything that a surfer could wish for. A world-class wave on the doorstep, untouched nature and lots of like-minded people. Speaking of nature: In Pavones, we finally spot scarlet macaws for the first time!

If you don’t see them, you will hear themNot exactly well hidden

And then there’s the swell. When we arrive, it has already hit. On the first day, we still dare to surf the famous wave. The next day, though, it’s already huge. Plus, there’s so many cracks out there in the line-up. We doubt they’d have much patience with us.

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Thanks, but no thanks. We find a somewhat more sheltered bay close-by and surf there. Even there, the waves are not that easy. But at least we get to surf a bit. Here’s one wave Marcel filmed with his GoPro.

So, everything is pretty much perfect. Except for the weather. It rains at least half the day, sometimes even the entire day. Every other day, there’s a pretty heavy thunderstorm. More than once, we have to quit our surf session early because of lightning. Ducking down on the board and waiting it out is not an option for us.